Portable tool for driving staples



Jan. 27, 1970 M. G. SALES 3,491,931

PORTABLE TOOL DRIVING STAPLES Filed Jan. 10. 1967 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 CD Ig I 93 1G! I m E E2 1 9 i l I i I; Q 91 \NVENTOR M guel G/au 5611.25

Jan. 27, 1970 Filed Jan. 10, 1967 M. G. SALES PORTABLE TOOL DRIVINGSTAPLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Hlgu L Gfau Sales United States Patent3,491,931 PORTABLE TOOL FOR DRIVING STAPLES Miguel Grau Sales, CalleEspronceda 392, Barcelona 16, Spain Filed Jan. 10, 1967, Ser. No.608,308 Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 12, 1966, W 40,702Int. Cl. B25c 5/00, 7/00 US. Cl. 227-127 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a portable tool for drivinginto a workpiece staples, nails, bolts and similar fastening means, aseries of which are joined together into a strip to be inserted into amagazine assembly.

It is known in the art to provide the rear part of the magazine assemblyin the region of the connection of the magazine housing to a reardownwardly extending projection of the stapler housing with a latchinglever which is pivotally mounted on the projection and secures a coverplate of the magazine in its closed position. Due to its arrangement inthe rear part of the device, however, this latching lever cannot beoperated by the hand of the operator which grips the handle piece of thestapler so that in order to place a new strip of staples into themagazine the operator has to use his other hand for actuating thelatching lever unlocking the cover plate, for retracting the coverplate, to manually insert the new strip into the magazine, and finallyto close the magazine by returning the cover plate into its initialposition. During the whole loading process the apparatus needs be heldat the handle piece by, for instance, the right hand of the operator.The loading process thus requires a number of manipulations with arelatively large outlay in working time. The troubles and interruptionsof work caused by this method are particularly undesirable wherestaplers are operated by pneumatic air as is the case in many industrialfactories, because here these troubles cause a very substantialhindrance of good working efficiency.

It is the object of the invention to provide a new and imimprovedportable fastener driving tool the magazine of which can be loaded witha strip of fastener means in an easier and more simple manner thanhitherto.

Another object is to provide a portable fastener driving apparatusincluding a magazine assembly with a cover plate slidably mounted on themagazine for movement by one-handed actuation between a closed positionin whi h the apparatus is ready for operation and an open position inwhich the magazine assembly is uncovered to permit the insertion of astrip of fastener means.

A further object is to provide a fastener driving apparatus in which themethod of insertion of a strip of fastener means can be effected in thatthe operator with the same hand by which he holds the handle piece ofthe tool may move the slidable cover plate of the magazine to the openposition.

In accordance with these and other objects the present inventioncomprises an intermediate lever which is provided with two lever armsand is mounted at the handle piece of the apparatus adjacent to thelatching lever of the slidable magazine cover plate. One arm of theintermediate lever comprises a trigger element which is arrangedunderneath the handle piece and may be actuated by a finger of theo-perators hand in which the handle piece of the apparatus is held,whereas the other arm of the intermediate lever, which extends indownward direction, abuts in a force-transmittant manner against theactuation arm of the latching lever. When the trigger element isactuated, for instance by the little finger of the operators hand, thelatching lever which is adjacent to the intermediate lever is tilted andunlocks the cover plate. If the apparatus is held upright in such amanner that the staple drive track forms the top end of the thenvertically extending magazine, the cover plate will be moved into anopened position by its own gravity without any manual help beingnecessary. The free downward motion of the cover plate causes theloading part of the magazine to be laid free so that a new staple stripmay be inserted into the magazine. This may be performed within a veryshort time, and the operator does not have to leave go of the handle.For increase of the effect of gravity on the opening movement of thecover plate one may fasten the rear wall of the staple ejection channelto the cover plate or combine the rear wall and the cover plate into onesole piece, so that the weight of this wall portion reinforces thedownward opening movement. To additionally further this movement it ispreferable to arrange in longitudinal direction of the magazine a springat the rear end of the cover plate which is under tensile stress whenthe cover plate is closed.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed specification of an embodimentthereof which is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a pneumatic air operated portable stapledriving tool in its operative position;

FIG. 2 is the side elevation of the apparatus of FIG- URE l in openposition of the magazine assembly.

Referring to the drawings the portable staple driving apparatus whichembodies the invention is operated by pneumatic air and comprises aconventional body formed as a handle piece 1. The stapler body enclosesan air chamber which is connected by an inlet nipple and a suitableflexible air line to a supply pipe of compressed air. The front portion2 of the stapler body houses a cylinder with a pneumatically actuatedpiston which is not shown in the drawing and which cooperates with adriver ejecting the staples through a drive track 3, into a workpiece ora base. The admittance of compressed air for operation of the apparatusis in a conventional manner controlled by a valve which is actuated by atrigger element '4 which is pivotally mounted on the stapler body. By aprojection part, which is formed as a leg section 5 and extends inrearward and downward direction, the handle piece 1 is connected withthe rear portion of a magazine assembly 6 the housing 7 of which isfastened to the front portion 2 of the stapler body and closed by abottom plate 8. The bottom plate 8 is slidably mounted on the housing 7for movement between a closed position in which the apparatus is readyfor operation and an open position in which the magazine assembly '6 isuncovered to permit the insertion of a strip of staples from below. Thebottom plate 8 is secured in its closed position by a nose 10 whichengages a ratchet 11 and is mounted on the. rearward end of a latchinglever 9 (see FIG. 2). The latching lever 9 is pivotally mounted on themagazine housing 7 by a pivot pin 15. The actuation arm 19 of latchinglever 9 on its upper face comprises a slightly convex curvature adjacentto which is the slanting end portion 20 of a lever arm 13 being one ofthe two arms of an intermediate lever 12 which is pivotally arranged onthe leg section 5 by a pivot pin 16. The other arm of intermediate lever12 is formed as a finger lever 14 which is rectangularly bent and in thefashion of a trigger is situated underneath handle piece 1 within theregion of a finger of the operators hand by which the handle piece isheld.

At the front end of bottom plate 8 of magazine 3558K].-

bly 6 the rear wall 17 of the staple drive'track 3 is arranged. Betweenthe ratchet 11 and the rear end of the magazine housing 7 a spring 18 isprovided in longitudinal direction, which is under stress when bottomplate 8 is in its closed position shown in FIG. 1.

When the staples within the magazine assembly 6 have been used up theapparatus is by the operators right hand held in a vertical position sothat the staple drive track 3 is at the top. By the little finger of theright hand of the operator the trigger 14 is turned towards the handlepiece 1 which causes the latching lever 9 to turn around its pivot 15 incounterclockwise direction and its nose 10 to disengage the ratchet 11of bottom plate 8. The latter, because of its gravity moves downwards,and its opening movement is enhanced by the weight of the rear wall 17of the staple drive track 3, which is then at the top end of the bottomplate 8, and by the diminishment of stress of spring 18. The operatormay now with his left hand insert a new strip of staples into the nowbare loading chamber of magazine 6, whereupon the bottom plate 8 is withthe same hand returned into its closed position, in which afterreleasing trigger lever 14 the arm 13 of intermediate lever 12 moveswith its lower slanting surface 20 over the convex arm 19 of latchinglever 9 in such a manner that the latter reaches the position of FIG. 1.The apparatus is then again in condition for operation.

The slidable plate 8 may be provided at the top surface instead of thebottom surface of the magazine assembly, in which case the staples areinserted into the magazine from the top.

The invention is of particular importance for portable apparatuses whichare operated by compressed air, it may however be used with likeadvantage for manually actuated tools such as those actuated by atensioning spring or similar means.

Having thus described my invention it is to be noted that the inventionis not limited to the specific construction and arrangement of partsdescribed with reference to the embodiment shown in'the drawings, andthat within the scope of the appended claims it may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described or illustrated.

I claim:

1. A portable fastener driving apparatus comprising, in combination, ahandle, a magazine assembly for accommodation of fastener means, whichmagazine assembly is connected with a rearwards and downwardly extendingprojection of the handle, a driver carried by said handle adjacent oneend of the handle, a driveoperating trigger carried by said handleadjacent said driver, a leg section carried by said handle adjacent theopposite end of the handle, a magazine housing having one end connectedto said one end of the handle, a bottom plate slidably mounted on saidhousing to slide between a closed position and an open position, a leverpivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said housing and having acurved actuating arm and a nose adapted to engage said bottom plate andhold it in its closed position, another intermediate lever pivotallymounted intermediate its ends on said leg section and having a slantingend portion adapted to engage the curved arm of the first-mentionedlever and an opposite end portion having the shape of a finger lever andlocated below and close to said handle, and wherein spring means arearranged in longitudinal direction at the rear end of said bottom plate,being under stress in the closed position of said bottom plate andassisting the opening movement of said bottom plate when the levers areactuated.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,819,466 1/1958 Campbell 2271272,936,456 5/1960 Ruskin 227127 X 3,041,614 7/1962 DHaem 227127 X3,056,137 10/1962 Wandel 227l27 3,215,324 11/1965 Dorney 227127 X2,775,764 I/ 1957 Maynard 227l28 X 3,056,963 10/1962 Clay 227127 X3,087,162 4/1963 Saurenman 227l27 3,110,898 11/1963 Haubold 227 X WAYNEA. MORSE, IR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

